Herbivore-induced emissions of methanol and ethylene: volatile signals in the defense response of Nicotiana attenuata

Pflanzen sind trotz ihrer sessilen Lebensweise weitaus aktiver als es den Anschein hat. In einem sich ständig verändernden Lebensraum passen Pflanzen kontinuierlich ihren Phänotyp den herrschenden Umweltbedingungen an. Um auf abiotische und biotische Stressfaktoren reagieren zu können, haben Pflanzen Erkennungs- und Regelungsmechanismen entwickelt, die es ihnen erlauben, gezielt und schnell auf momentan wirkende Umweltfaktoren zu reagieren. Mechanische Verwundung stellt dabei einen Reiz dar, der sowohl durch die unbelebte als auch durch die belebte Umwelt ausgelöst werden kann. Für die Pflanze ist es relevant diese voneinander zu unterscheiden. Zellwandbestandteile von Pilzen und Bakterien oder spezifische Abbauprodukte der Verdauungsenzyme angreifender Insekten sind für biotische Angreifer charakteristische Signalmoleküle, die die Pflanze erkennt und daraufhin eine spezifische, je nach Stressor unterschiedliche, induzierte Abwehrreaktion auslöst. Die Aktivierung bestimmter Abwehrmechanismen gegen Herbivorie, wie die Akkumulation toxischer Substanzen oder die Aktivierung verdauungshemmender Enzyme, erfolgt hauptsächlich über das Pflanzenhormon Jasmonsäure (JS) und dessen Derivate. Die Regulation der Abwehr findet jedoch nicht ausschliesslich über JS statt. Besonders die Vernetzung verschiedener Signalkaskaden ermöglicht der Pflanze eine spezielle Anpassung ihrer Reaktion auf die einwirkenden Reize

Pectin methylesterase NaPME1 contributes to the emission of methanol during insect herbivory and to the elicitation of defence responses in Nicotiana attenuata

Pectin methylesterases (PMEs) catalyse the demethylation of pectin within plant cell walls, releasing methanol (MeOH) in the process. Thus far, PMEs have been found to be involved in diverse processes such as plant growth and development and defence responses against pathogens. Herbivore attack increases PME expression and activity and MeOH emissions in several plant species. To gain further insights into the role of PMEs in defence responses against herbivores, the expression of a Manduca sexta oral secretion (OS)-inducible PME in Nicotiana attenuata (NaPME1) was silenced by RNA interference (RNAi)-mediated gene silencing. Silenced lines (ir-pme) showed 50% reduced PME activity in leaves and 70% reduced MeOH emissions after OS elicitation compared with the wild type (WT), demonstrating that the herbivore-induced MeOH emissions originate from the demethylation of pectin by PME. In the initial phase of the OS-induced jasmonic acid (JA) burst (first 30 min), ir-pme lines produced WT levels of this hormone and of jasmonyl-isoleucine (JA-Ile); however, these levels were significantly reduced in the later phase (60–120 min) of the burst. Similarly, suppressed levels of the salicylic acid (SA) burst induced by OS elicitation were observed in ir-pme lines even though wounded ir-pme leaves contained slightly increased amounts of SA. This genotype also presented reduced levels of OS-induced trypsin proteinase inhibitor activity in leaves and consistently increased M. sexta larvae performance compared with WT plants. These latter responses could not be recovered by application of exogenous MeOH. Together, these results indicated that PME contributes, probably indirectly by affecting cell wall properties, to the induction of anti-herbivore responses

Measurement of Spin Correlation Parameters ANN_{NN}, ASS_{SS}, and A_SL{SL} at 2.1 GeV in Proton-Proton Elastic Scattering

At the Cooler Synchrotron COSY/J\"ulich spin correlation parameters in elastic proton-proton (pp) scattering have been measured with a 2.11 GeV polarized proton beam and a polarized hydrogen atomic beam target. We report results for A$_{NN}$, A$_{SS}$, and A_${SL}$ for c.m. scattering angles between 30$^o$ and 90$^o$. Our data on A$_{SS}$ -- the first measurement of this observable above 800 MeV -- clearly disagrees with predictions of available of pp scattering phase shift solutions while A$_{NN}$ and A_${SL}$ are reproduced reasonably well. We show that in the direct reconstruction of the scattering amplitudes from the body of available pp elastic scattering data at 2.1 GeV the number of possible solutions is considerably reduced.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Frequency of fatigue and its changes in the first 6 months after traumatic brain injury: results from the CENTER-TBI study.

BACKGROUND: Fatigue is one of the most commonly reported subjective symptoms following traumatic brain injury (TBI). The aims were to assess frequency of fatigue over the first 6 months after TBI, and examine whether fatigue changes could be predicted by demographic characteristics, injury severity and comorbidities. METHODS: Patients with acute TBI admitted to 65 trauma centers were enrolled in the study Collaborative European NeuroTrauma Effectiveness Research in TBI (CENTER-TBI). Subjective fatigue was measured by single item on the Rivermead Post-Concussion Symptoms Questionnaire (RPQ), administered at baseline, three and 6 months postinjury. Patients were categorized by clinical care pathway: admitted to an emergency room (ER), a ward (ADM) or an intensive care unit (ICU). Injury severity, preinjury somatic- and psychiatric conditions, depressive and sleep problems were registered at baseline. For prediction of fatigue changes, descriptive statistics and mixed effect logistic regression analysis are reported. RESULTS: Fatigue was experienced by 47% of patients at baseline, 48% at 3 months and 46% at 6 months. Patients admitted to ICU had a higher probability of experiencing fatigue than those in ER and ADM strata. Females and individuals with lower age, higher education, more severe intracranial injury, preinjury somatic and psychiatric conditions, sleep disturbance and feeling depressed postinjury had a higher probability of fatigue. CONCLUSION: A high and stable frequency of fatigue was found during the first 6 months after TBI. Specific socio-demographic factors, comorbidities and injury severity characteristics were predictors of fatigue in this study

A Russian Radical Conservative Challenge to the Liberal Global Order: Aleksandr Dugin

The chapter examines Russian political theorist Aleksandr Dugin’s (b. 1962) challenge to the Western liberal order. Even though Dugin’s project is in many ways a theoretical epitome of Russia’s contemporary attempt to profile itself as a regional great power with a political and cultural identity distinct from the liberal West, Dugin can also be read in a wider context as one of the currently most prominent representatives of the culturally and intellectually oriented international New Right. The chapter introduces Dugin’s role on the Russian right-wing political scene and his international networks, Russian neo-Eurasianism as his ideological footing, and his more recent “fourth political theory” as an attempt to formulate a new ideological alternative to liberalism as well as the two other main twentieth-century ideologies, communism and fascism. Dugin’s fourth ideology, essentially meant as an alternative to a unipolar post–Cold War global hegemony of victorious liberalism, draws inspiration from the German conservative revolutionary movement of the Weimar era. In particular, Martin Heidegger’s philosophy of history, with its thesis of the end of modernity and another beginning of Western thought, and Carl Schmitt’s pluralistic model of geopolitics are highlighted as key elements of Dugin’s eclectic political thought, which is most appropriately characterized as a form of radical conservatism

Insomnia is a frequent finding in adults with Asperger syndrome

BACKGROUND: Asperger syndrome (AS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder belonging to autism spectrum disorders with prevalence rate of 0,35% in school-age children. It has been most extensively studied in childhood while there is scarcity of reports concerning adulthood of AS subjects despite the lifelong nature of this syndrome. In children with Asperger syndrome the initiation and continuity of sleep is disturbed because of the neuropsychiatric deficits inherent of AS. It is probable that sleep difficulties are present in adulthood as well. Our hypothesis was that adults with AS suffer from difficulty in initiating and maintaining sleep and nonrestorative sleep (insomnia). METHODS: 20 AS without medication were compared with 10 healthy controls devoid of neuropsychiatric anamnesis. Clinical examination, blood test battery and head MRI excluded confounding somatic illnesses. Structured psychiatric interview for axis-I and axis-II disorders were given to both groups as well as Beck Depression Inventory and Wechsler adult intelligence scale, revised version. Sleep quality was assessed with sleep questionnaire, sleep diary during 6 consecutive days and description of possible sleep problems by the participants own words was requested. RESULTS: compared with controls and with normative values of good sleep, AS adults had frequent insomnia. In sleep questionnaire 90% (18/20), in sleep diary 75% (15/20) and in free description 85% (17/20) displayed insomnia. There was a substantial psychiatric comorbidity with only 4 AS subject devoid of other axis-I or axis-II disorders besides AS. Also these persons displayed insomnia. It can be noted that the distribution of psychiatric diagnoses in AS subjects was virtually similar to that found among patient with chronic insomnia. CONCLUSIONS: the neuropsychiatric deficits inherent of AS predispose both to insomnia and to anxiety and mood disorders. Therefore a careful assessment of sleep quality should be an integral part of the treatment plan in these individuals. Conversely, when assessing adults with chronic insomnia the possibility of autism spectrum disorders as one of the potential causes of this condition should be kept in mind

Experiences with array-based sequence capture; toward clinical applications

Although sequencing of a human genome gradually becomes an option, zooming in on the region of interest remains attractive and cost saving. We performed array-based sequence capture using 385K Roche NimbleGen, Inc. arrays to zoom in on the protein-coding and immediate intron-flanking sequences of 112 genes, potentially involved in mental retardation and congenital malformation. Captured material was sequenced using Illumina technology. A data analysis pipeline was built that detects sequence variants, positions them in relation to the gene, checks for presence in databases (eg, db single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)) and predicts the potential consequences at the level of RNA splicing and protein translation. In the samples analyzed, all known variants were reliably detected, including pathogenic variants from control cases and SNPs derived from array experiments. Although overall coverage varied considerably, it was reproducible per region and facilitated the detection of large deletions and duplications (copy number variations), including a partial deletion in the B3GALTL gene from a patient sample. For ultimate diagnostic application, overall results need to be improved. Future arrays should contain probes from both DNA strands, and to obtain a more even coverage, one could add fewer probes from densely and more probes from sparsely covered regions

A two-domain elevator mechanism for sodium/proton antiport

Sodium/proton (Na+/H+) antiporters, located at the plasma membrane in every cell, are vital for cell homeostasis1. In humans, their dysfunction has been linked to diseases, such as hypertension, heart failure and epilepsy, and they are well-established drug targets2. The best understood model system for Na+/H+ antiport is NhaA from Escherichia coli1, 3, for which both electron microscopy and crystal structures are available4, 5, 6. NhaA is made up of two distinct domains: a core domain and a dimerization domain. In the NhaA crystal structure a cavity is located between the two domains, providing access to the ion-binding site from the inward-facing surface of the protein1, 4. Like many Na+/H+ antiporters, the activity of NhaA is regulated by pH, only becoming active above pH 6.5, at which point a conformational change is thought to occur7. The only reported NhaA crystal structure so far is of the low pH inactivated form4. Here we describe the active-state structure of a Na+/H+ antiporter, NapA from Thermus thermophilus, at 3 Å resolution, solved from crystals grown at pH 7.8. In the NapA structure, the core and dimerization domains are in different positions to those seen in NhaA, and a negatively charged cavity has now opened to the outside. The extracellular cavity allows access to a strictly conserved aspartate residue thought to coordinate ion binding1, 8, 9 directly, a role supported here by molecular dynamics simulations. To alternate access to this ion-binding site, however, requires a surprisingly large rotation of the core domain, some 20° against the dimerization interface. We conclude that despite their fast transport rates of up to 1,500 ions per second3, Na+/H+ antiporters operate by a two-domain rocking bundle model, revealing themes relevant to secondary-active transporters in general

Cytomegalovirus Infection of the Colon Presenting as a Mass-Like Lesion

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is responsible for the most common opportunistic infections in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). The colon is a common site for these infections in patients positive for human immunodeficiency virus. CMV rarely presents as an intraluminal inflammatory mass in the colon. Here we report the case of a CMV infection presenting as a mass-like lesion in an AIDS patient. The clinical diagnosis of CMV infection is largely based on the characteristic endoscopic appearance. Endoscopic procedures are encouraged early in the course of CMV infection in immunocompromised patients. CMV pseudotumors along with malignancy should be part of the endoscopic evaluation in patients with AIDS